Rock Away My Blues - Liner Notes

Henhouse BluesA favorite in California old-time circles for decades. We learned it from either Hank Bradley or Mac Benford, who apparently learned it from each other. They adapted it from a old record titled “Rooster On A Limb” by “Mustard and Gravy -- Dixie’s Tastiest Combination.”

Lazy Lazy RiverFrannie learned this from Adam Rose, one hot afternoon in the Dome at Sweetsmill. It originally came from the Mississippi Sheiks.A lazy, laid back, swingy song, originally in E flat, here it’s in G . The intro is so peculiar it just about killed her, figuring out how to sing it.

Ozark RagA classic fiddle rag from that iconic band of the 20s and 30s, The East Texas Serenaders.

Ory’s Creole TromboneMatt arranged this great old tune by jazz pioneer, trombonist Edward “Kid” Ory. The bass plays all the trombone parts and the rest of the Shakers fill in the gaps.

Blue On Monday / PartidesLotus Dickey, who wrote Blue on Monday, was a master of multiple internal rhyme from Indiana.This song has been a Frannie favorite for many years. At one point Eric and Suzy and also Hank Bradley and Cathie Whitesides gave it a Greek style feel, and Suzy kicks it off with a doina/taksim.Eric added to the Greek motif with the medley pairing of Partides by M Chotisis.

North Carolina Home / Hickman RagFrannie originally learned this Carolina Tar Heels song from a cassette compilation tape from Evo Bluestein. One of the Tar Heels was Garley Foster known as the “human bird” for his high harmonica playing. Frannie recorded this 25 years ago with Jeanie McLerie and Ken Keppler playing harmonica in “human bird” style. The Todalo Shakers have brought it back with our own unique instrumentation and paired it with the peppy Hickman Rag from Charlie Bowman to bring us home.